Practically the entire post-harvest process, even in its smallest aspects, was addressed on the second day of the International Blueberry Month 2022, corresponding to Thursday, August 18.

Claudio Yáñez, agronomist from the University of Maule, in his presentation "Harvest and post-harvest management in blueberries: important factors for the export of quality blueberries", was in charge of sharing a hundred tips or practical actions, learned from their long experience in harvesting, storing, packing and shipping the fruit to distant destinations, which ensure a much better result in the quality and firmness of the fruit when it arrives at the markets, and therefore in profitability for producers.

Segregate and measure

The specialist put the emphasis on the correct segregation of the raw material and the programmed realization of different measurements to the main aspects of the fruit at the time of harvest, both in maturity, hardness, defects of origin or condition, in order to to select the best fruit, writing down each quality, value or record, in such a way that it can be compared with other fields in the field, with different varieties, or simply with the results of past or future seasons.

Claudio Yáñez expanded in his presentation on the good use of the technological instruments and tools that exist in the market to help in the post-harvest stage and put a lot of emphasis on the different decisions that must be made before harvesting in the orchard. , also in storage and pre-cold, and then in the correct performance of actions at the time of cold application and the subsequent transfer and shipment of the fruit.

Advantages of automation

Rafael Larrea, area sales technician for the international company Maf Roda, spoke about “Automation and traceability. How to minimize the impacts on the fruit in the process?

In his talk, he presented the fundamentals of post-harvest technology and the comparative advantages of automation in the process. He commented in detail on the qualities and scope of the multiple tools that Maf Roda offers and the contribution that it means for the producer in the treatment of the fruit after being harvested, both in classification, calibration, packaging and palletizing, all these actions linked to traceability. , through specialized technical teams connected to the database of production managers.

global presence

Around the world, the company has more than 400 blueberry lines installed, all equipped with their collaborating tools and linked to specialized technical teams, which collect data to build the statistics that allow the permanent updating of the tools, in the perspective of be more effective in their role.

Logistics and distance

The renowned expert and adviser in postharvest, Jéssica Rodriguez, spoke about "Strategies in postharvest handling of blueberries in the face of the greatest logistical challenges", referring mainly to the innumerable logistics problems that have had to be faced in past seasons, as a result of the pandemic and other events that "we already know and have been informed, that the problems will remain in the season and most likely in the following season as well", so that the days to destination will not be shortened, but on the contrary , these can increase, he assured.

The garden, the first

In this context, the expert emphasizes prevention and proper agronomic management to achieve quality results in the fruit at destination, because logistics problems will mean more storage time, more rotting, more soft fruit and dehydration.

For example, referring to rot, he explains that "postharvest management could increase the incidence if one does something wrong, but in reality the inoculum comes from the orchard, therefore, it is key to do good management in the orchard to minimize the incidence of rot. inoculum In postharvest, then, we must manage to keep the inoculum in the same state in which it arrives, ”he concludes.

The day was intense and this was projected to the final round of questions from different parts of the world, in which the different aspects of the post-harvest period in all its variants continued to be deepened. At the time of concluding, the renowned international advisor reflects on the experience and, commenting on the blueberry, she said:

Different realities, same care

“This species surprises me, not only because it is a new species and it is a fruit that we have been learning to eat recently, but also because of the diversity of the places where it is produced today. How technology and genetic improvement have made them evolve so quickly and today we have them in places that were unthinkable 20 years ago, but finally require the same care everywhere. The blueberry is a tremendous species and having such distant audiences, from Ecuador, Peru, Morocco, Mexico, is something incredible.”

The International Blueberry Month will continue every Tuesday and Thursday of the month of August, addressing the commercial, technical and agronomic issues of the crop in all its details.